President’s Review

INTRODUCTION

President’s Review

DECEMBER 2022

What a landmark few months we have had, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, two new Prime ministers, the new budget, strikes, cost of living issues –plenty to keep us on our toes. Throughout all of this HILS has been calmly working away supporting the profession and providing valuable training, lectures and events to keep our lawyers up to date.

HILS shared in the grief of the nation on the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. We joined with The Law Society in offering our condolences to the Royal Family. ‘As the holder of a Royal Charter’, The Law Society has been very grateful to the Queen for her role in public life, as a defender of the constitution and source of stability in an era of great change. We are thankful for the way she dedicated her life to the service of this country’. We now look forward to the reign of our new monarch King Charles III.

We have been busy responding to Law Society consultations, ensuring that our members have their voices heard and that their comments make their way back to the national settings. We have attended the SRA, COLP and COFA conference and followed updates in the codes of conduct and rule changes. We are busy preparing the lecture and social programmes for next year to incorporate all that has been requested and all that has been notified to us.

It was an honour to be invited to the opening of the Legal Year which took place on 3 October 2022 at Westminster Abbey. It was a really fantastic experience and so incredible to see the branches of the legal profession coming together, meeting lawyers and barristers from around the country and from around the world. This meeting sparked a fantastic symbiosis with some other Local Law Societies that were present and has led to the formation of a quarterly Local Law Societies Group. The first meeting of this took place on Friday 18 November 2022 and was really well attended with some excellent discussion and feedback. We look forward to taking part in the next event which is on 13 January 2023.

I was also privileged to attend the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Local Law Society annual dinner. The first they have held since preCovid. It was at the amazing Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and was a wonderful, convivial occasion. It is so promising and exciting to see that local law societies are getting ‘back on their feet’ and will be there to support their respective members and HILS are thankful to be able to support them and be involved.

I was invited to attend a Law Society Round Table seminar on the adapting and shifting perceptions of professional ethics. This led to some lively debate which highlighted regional disparities and the differences between the challenges faced by smaller high street firms and those faced by large corporate firms.

HILS took part in the Southampton Legal Walk back now in September and I am pleased to say we all completed it and survived! Between all the participants we were able to raise more than £4,500.00 so massive thanks to all those that supported us.

HILS have been very fortunate to be able to put on another joint seminar with HW Conveyancing with the excellent Ian Quayle speaking. It was very well attended so please look out for more events in the future. They are free to our members.

We continue to try and engage on our Social media platforms and it would be great if you can connect with us and let your colleagues know about HILS and also tag us in to updates. We would love to have a direct connection with as many individuals that work in the legal sector as possible.

As always, massive thanks to the committee for their incredible efforts throughout 2022. If you have any interest in joining the committee or any ideas for other types of events, lectures or seminars then please get in touch.

HILS are looking forward to working with you all again in 2023 and we hope that everyone can have a proper break and enjoy some down time over the Christmas and New Year period. ■

Mo Aldridge

Mo Aldridge

President

Hampshire Law Society